1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a hair treating agent of the preshampoo type adapted to be coated on hair before shampooing.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Hair is contaminated with dirt and soil from external sources and with decomposition and oxidation products of sebums secreted from the scalp. Detergents used for removing such contaminants and cleaning hair, such as shampoos, usually comprise a surface active agent as the main ingredient. A shampoo containing a surface active agent alone removes indiscriminately not only the above contaminants, but also skin sebums per se which protect the hair and impart a wet toughness to hair. Hair deprived of skin sebums by shampooing lacks a wet touch or feel and if such hair is subjected to a chemical or physical cosmetic treatment such as cold waving or brushing, it is readily damaged and split or cut.
For the purpose of overcoming this disadvantage, various shampoos containing oils and fats have been proposed. Also the use of a hair rinse for imparting a wet and soft touch to hair or the application of a hair cream or hair oil after shampooing for making up for oil and fat components lost by shampooing is broadly conducted. In shampoos containing oils and fats, however, since the oil and fat components are emulsified or solubilized, most of them are removed together with the remainder of the shampoo during rinsing, and therefore, a sufficient and long-lasting effect of supplying oil and fat components to the hair cannot be attained.
A hair rinse imparts only a temporary soft touch to hair owing to the antistatic effect of a cationic surface active agent contained therein as the main active ingredient, and it scarcely exhibits an effect of making up for lost oil and fat components.
If a hair cream or hair oil is coated on hair in such a large amount that it will easily spread over all the hair, the hair becomes greasy and such greasy hair is not preferred from the cosmetic viewpoint. In contrast, if the hair cream or hair oil is coated in a small amount so that it will not impart a greasy feel to the hair, it is difficult to spread it uniformly over all the hair. Thus, overall and uniform replenishment of oil and fat components is incompatible with the desired cosmetic effect.
A hair treating method comprising coating oil and fat components on hair before shampooing and then shampooing to remove excess oil and fat components is also generally used. In this invention, the term "hair treatment of the pre-shampoo type" means a hair treating method comprising coating oil and fat components on dry hair before shampooing and washing the hair with a shampoo or the like. The oil and fat component used for this pre-treatment is called "a hair treating agent of the pre-shampoo type" in this invention.
Olive oil and camellia oil are often used as the hair treating oil and fat component of the pre-shampoo type, and creams or lotions for the hair treatment of the pre-shampoo type are commercially available. In some cases, ordinary hair creams are used for the hair treatment of the pre-shampoo type. However, in conventional hair treating agents of the pre-shampoo type, the ingredients, especially the oil and fat components, are chosen in the same manner as in general skin care cosmetics, and no specific oil and fat component for the hair treatment of the pre-shampoo type has been developed. Since hair washing is conducted after coating of a hair treating agent of the pre-shampoo type, from the cosmetic viewpoint the hair treatment using a hair treating agent of this type is preferred in comparison to the post-treatment with a hair cream or hair oil for replenishment of oil and fat after hair washing, because the hair treatment of the pre-shampoo type does not give an excessively greasy feel to hair. In this pretreatment, however, since the oil and fat component applied to hair is apt to be washed away, it is used in the non-emulsified state and hence, the effect of replenishing the oil and fat component is inferior to that attained by coating the hair with a hair cream or hair oil after shampooing. Also in the case of a conventional hair treating agent of the pre-shampoo type composed of ordinary hair cream or skin cosmetic, the effect of replenishing the oil and fat component is inferior.